Dive Brief:
- A gap between workers’ wages and the rising cost of living is creating financial stress among U.S. workers, Resume Now’s 2025 Wage Reality Report, released Jan. 21, found. Seventy-three percent of workers struggle to afford anything but their basic living expenses, according to the report.
- Of the more than 1,000 workers surveyed, 12% can’t always afford their basic living expenses, and 24% fight to cover essentials.
- One-third of workers say their salary hasn’t kept pace with inflation, and 55% don’t think their salary is as high as it should be.
Dive Insight:
Workers pointed to rising housing costs, increasing prices for essentials, salaries that don’t keep up with inflation and their inability to save for emergencies and the future as causes of their financial stress, the report found.
“Rising costs and stagnant wages are making it harder to make ends meet. Workers may want to advocate for fair pay adjustments by staying informed about industry salary benchmarks or participating in discussions about cost-of-living raises,” Keith Spencer, a Resume Now career expert, said in the report.
Financial stress among workers can affect employers because, coupled with salary dissatisfaction, it can affect morale and workplace dynamics, Spencer said.
Employers can help by offering better benefits, like healthcare and retirement matching; providing clear pathways to career growth and raises; and offering access to education and certificates that can improve workers’ earning potential, employees said.
For their part, 29% of workers have moved into lower-cost areas or housing, and nearly 3 in 10 have assumed debt to cover their living expenses, the report found.
In other cases, 44% of workers have looked for higher paying positions, and 17% have needed to take on a second job or part-time work to get by, according to Monster’s recent 2025 Work Watch Report.
